Article, Contradictions in the Bible!?

Opposition in the Bible!? 1: flat or round?

February 23, 2024 - drs. G. (Gijs) van den Brink

Worldview is the knowledge and vision of the construction and arrangement of the universe.

We "know" that there are multiple galaxies and that in our galaxy the earth revolves around the sun. But in the ancient worldview, and in the Bible, the earth is said to be flat and the sky stretched over it like a dome. From this the sun, moon and stars are suspended like lamps. A contradiction? 

First: THE ancient worldview does not exist. Egyptians, Babylonians and Greeks had different worldviews. But also THE Biblical worldview does not exist. Sometimes there is a threefold division (heaven, earth, underworld), sometimes a fourfold division (heaven, earth, sea, underworld). Sometimes the earth is said to float on the water (Ps. 24:2), sometimes there is talk of pillars and foundations of the earth (Job 9:6; Spr. 8:29), sometimes that God suspends the earth above nothingness (Job 26:7). Giga contradictory?

The Bible is not a book of science and does not impose any worldview on us. The Bible speaks the language of everyday life. It is the language of ordinary human perception, which is the same among all peoples and all times. We still say: the starry sky is above; the sun is rising (instead of the earth turning). We see the horizon where the sky meets the earth. When we dig in the earth we encounter water. Our land, too, is surrounded by water. Wherever we travel, we come to water at some point.

The Bible does not speak in the language of science, but in the language of the daily lives of ordinary people.

Contribution of

drs. G. (Gijs) van den Brink
Since 1981 working as editor and author on a commentary series known as "Study Bible." First at IDR in Soest, from 1998 at the "Center for Bible Research" (CVB) in Doorn. From 1996 to 2015 editor NT of the quarterly magazine for evangelical theological reflection "Soteria". Since 2007 editor-in-chief of the quarterly theological journal "Study Bible magazine". From 2010-2011 editorial board member of Tussenruimte, journal for intercultural theology.

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